Ryan Rykaczewski describes one of the most massive migrations on the planet, driven by the sun. Image by Tintinnidguy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

#ExplainTheSun  - The Largest Migration on The Planet

Before we can cultivate plots of Martian potatoes (as Matt Damon’s character does is in a certain space flick out this week) we’ll need to know a lot more about how plants grow in extreme climates. Enter Anna-Lisa Paul and Robert J. Ferl of the University of Florida’s Space Plants Lab in Gainesville. This week on The Macroscope, video producer Emily Driscoll explains how Paul and Ferl sent a lowly weed—affectionately called “crackwort”—to the International Space Station to study how the plants’ roots grew in zero gravity.

Plus, NASA astronaut and avid space gardener Don Pettit joins Ira and Emily to talk about his quest while aboard the International Space Station to grow “the space equivalent of the potted plant in the corner of the office.”


Plants in Space!

Once, there was the ordinary incandescent light bulb. It shone brightly, but wasted much of the energy put into it as heat. Then came the compact fluorescent. And as costs have dropped, consumers have increasingly been switching to light-emitting diode (LED) technology for many lighting applications, in an ongoing search for a more efficient bulb. Now, in work published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers report that nanophotonic devices may be able to breathe new life into old incandescent technology. Marin Soljačić and Ognjen Ilic, two authors of the study, explain how they’ve been able to “recycle” some of the incandescent bulb’s wasted heat and re-emit it as visible light, boosting efficiency.

For the Lowly Incandescent Bulb, a Ray of Hope

Science, technology, and other cool stuff from public radio's Science Friday. It's brain fun, for curious people. From WNYC Studios.

Plants in Space!

SciFri

Recent comments

_3mp3404_

Related tracks